Beer ban?! England fans may be stopped from drinking at Euro 2024 opener in Germany amid police crackdown on antisocial behaviour

Peter Both, the security operations director for England's tournament opener against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen, says discussions are underway about the possibility of banning alcohol in Schalke's stadium (Veltins Arena), and his team are checking if that can be applied to public places where fans will congregate en masse. Both, who said if anyone causes any "trouble" they will be sent home, is expecting between 50,000-80,000 England fans to be in the city for the Serbia clash on June 16 and riot police and officers on horses will be on duty.

He told The Mirror: "We're discussing the possibility of banning alcohol in the stadium and I make no secret of it. Through the spectacles of someone responsible for security and in charge of police deployment on that day, I would find it good.

"We are also currently checking at the moment to what extent we can apply banning alcohol in public places. In principle you're free to drink alcohol on the street in Germany, but in big areas where fans gather in overfilled spaces we want to forbid it.

"It's important all police in Germany adopt a mindset of seeing the fans as peaceful rather than a threat, but we will react if something happens. You can't exclude the fact that some will be coming with the intention of causing riots. My message to England fans is we will be prepared. If anyone does try to cause trouble we will move quickly and they will be sent home."

Officer Both has come out with some zero-tolerance statements but this approach risks angering thousands of supporters set to fly out for Euro 2024. Moreover, the competition's official beer, Bitberger, has paid millions to sell their drinks at stadiums, therefore Both's stance is likely to upset them, too. Overall, this is not likely to go down well and his statement is unlikely to be the end of the matter.

Fans in Germany are allowed to drink alcohol in their seats at matches, but booze bans have been imposed on Bundesliga games viewed as 'high risk'.

Officer Both is reportedly set to discuss his plans with British police officials and FA bosses soon. Preliminary talks were held about this matter during England's match against Malta at Wembley in November.